It's a well-known fact that I am not in my school groove yet. If I see you around town, or on the sidelines {of three sports x two kids}, and you ask, "how's your year going so far?", I may very well look at you like a deer in the headlights.

We have turned a corner. Apparently gone are the days when my kids tumbled off the schoolbus, played in the yard til dinner, and we all sat down together at a reasonable time. Now, they arrive home minutes before my chauffeuring begins. Afternoon and evening activities overlap. Homework has become more plentiful. And there's still only one of me.

Oh, and, I am not willing to forego healthy meals, or family dinners.

Wednesdays are unique in that my children only have half-days of school. It's funny because I remember when they started preschool I used to think that 4 hours off was an amazingly long time. Now, with four other normal length school days/week, I sort of treat Wednesday as a wash.

However, today found me halfway though a {truth be told: disorganized} week of meals, marooned at home during a 4-hour workman window {the same 4 hours the kids are in school}, needing dinner prepared before 12:30. And I hadn't done much grocery marketing. Did I throw up my hands in despair and say we'll just go to Station Eats in between tennis lessons, a baseball game, and the first big middle school project that involves poster board? No. Because mama is trying to get back to svelte… my older child came home from camp a vegetarian…. and if you make me sit around the house for four hours waiting for you, you better believe I'm going to put that time to good use by cooking something. The result of rifling through the pantry and freezer or ingredients?

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot, over medium heat. Saute the onions until golden, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Stir. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until the grain you added is cooked.

Reheats beautifully {if you need to dine in shifts}. Freezes perfectly {if you want to make a big batch and freeze some for a busy night ahead}.

I know some of you like me to be more precise with my measurements… Here is what I added today, which made 8 servings {4 for tonight; 4 to freeze}:

Then, while one child was creating a math presentation and the other was systematically destroying the kitchen that had just been cleaned-- I mean, sewing a Medieval costume out of felt-- I slathered some good butter on French bread and wrapped it in foil ready to go into the oven for a few minutes, in anticipation of a quick family dinner in between practices tonight.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

I'm still not sure if I am jumping back into blogging with both feet, but enough people have asked me to share how I am juggling healthy mealtimes {with crazy chauffeuring} this Fall / losing the summer bloat / staying sane parenting a middle schooler / dealing with one child who is vegetarian etc. that I decided I'd dip a pinky toe back in. Best place to catch me, for the time being, re: recipe ideas, food crushes, and general rants and raves about motherhood is over on my Facebook page. See you over there, and maybe back here soon. We'll see...

Pinch me! So flattered: Working Mother Magazine's 2015 Best of the Net

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About Founder/Editor Eila DeBard Johnson

I am a happy, healthy mom of two young children who has a knack for being able to whip up family-friendly, healthy meals with whatever I find in our fridge, freezer and pantry. In the past 15 years of motherhood, I have come to appreciate that there is so much intertwined in "being healthy" and feeling good as a mother, wife and friend. As a super busy mom who jugglednutrition coursework, raising young children, keeping the house in order, volunteering in my community, writing this blog and the elusive goal of “me” time, I understand the need for recipes to be simple.

While I’d love to claim that I cook everything from scratch, with only local ingredients, I don’t. One of my children is a vegetarian, the other is a self-proclaimed "meatatarian", so mealtimes are a constant juggling act around here. But, I do a swell job of getting healthful meals made quickly…that everyone around here enjoys. And if you open my freezer, chances are you'll find a bevy of homemade meals at the ready.

My love of cooking comes from an entire childhood spent in Southern California, where phenomenal produce was available (and offered up) year round... memories of homemade meals and family dinners throughout my upbringing... my incredible exchange student experience living on a farm in Austria in high school... and years of fine-tuning my cooking skills through numerous classes at The Institute for Culinary Education (then called Peter Kump's), private cooking lessons at night after my day job at an investment bank, and a Professional Certificate in Techniques of Healthy Cooking from The Culinary Institute of America. I have a BA from Colgate University, an MBA from Northwestern and am certified as a Health Coach by the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, where I focused on holistic well-being.

Before writing this blog, I ran a (wildly popular) Fairfield County, CT-based personal chef service; consulted on private label food products; and worked in new product development and brand management for a really big food company.